5 things to know about the Hamilton-connected businessman running for lieutenant governor

Lt. Gov. Mary Taylor formally introduced Hamilton businessman Nathan Estruth as her running mate in her bid for Ohio governor.

Estruth, 50, was one month from celebrating 27 years with Procter & Gamble when he chose to retire Wednesday from the Cincinnati-based corporation. He was the CEO of P&G subsidiary iMFLUX, an injection molding technology company.

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Here are five things to know about Taylor’s running mate:

1. Family

Estruth has been married 25 years to his wife Madonna, a Miami University graduate. They met while working at P&G.

Together they have four children — Daniel, who has profound cerebral palsy; Jolene, a freshman in college; and twins Michaela and Isaac, who are freshmen in high school.

They’ve primarily lived in Ohio since they were married in 1992. Estruth grew up in Scottsdale, Ariz., but has lived in Ohio longer than anywhere else.

They also have a dog, Maggie (named for former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher).

2. Work

Estruth started to work at P&G in 1991 and worked his way to vice president of P&G FutureWorks, which is designed to create new brands and business models. In May 2013, he was named President and CEO of iNFLUX, which was developed by the FutureWorks division.

Estruth serves on the board of directors at Fort Worth, Texas-based KPS Global, a private equity-backed business-to-business service and manufacturer of parts in the retail cooler industry.

Estruth served on the Alliance Defending Freedom board from 2007 to 2014. The organization describes itself as a conservative Christian nonprofit organization that advocates issues of “religious freedom, sanctity of life, and marriage and family.”

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3. Education and Politics

Estruth graduated from UCLA in 1989 earning a political science bachelor’s degree in international relations. He also attended the first year of the public policy master’s program at the Harvard Kennedy School in Cambridge, Mass., before joining P&G.

Estruth also worked as an intern on Capitol Hill for Congressman Eldon Rudd, R-Arizona, in the Ronald Reagan White House in the Office of Public Liaison, and briefly in Jack Kemp’s Office of Speechwriting at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development before being asked to help Secretary of State Ken Blackwell in Cincinnati.

He has also worked or volunteered on multiple Congressional and Senate contests across several states.

4. Speaking

Estruth has been a speaker at multiple conferences and forums, including the Wharton's Executive Leadership Program, Harvard Business School's Entrepreneurship conference, Tsinghua University in Beijing, China, the Online to Profit conference, the Center for Corporate Innovation CTO Innovation and CEO Forums, and was a keynote speaker at the 2010 World Health Care Congress.

5. Connection to City Gospel Mission

The Estruth family has also been active supporters of City Gospel Mission, and its sister entity JobsPlus, for more than 20 years.

They became involved in the mission through their church, Mariemont Community Church, when they lived in Mariemont.

In addition to providing food and shelter for the homeless, the City Gospel Mission also offers: men and women long-term addiction recovery programs, such as transitional housing and aftercare; job readiness and placement programs for the unemployed, felons and people with limited work histories; and tutor and mentors more than 1,100 at-risk youth around Greater Cincinnati.

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